I purchased a set of FOOD SAFE kitchen canisters from accentsofsalado.com. I received them and put my flour and sugar in them accordingly. The lids have a rubber grommet to "seal" the jars. The order was printed by the company (per the sales receipt) on March 11th. I received the order sometime thereafter (shipped from Texas to Wisconsin).
Upon opening the sugar canister yesterday, April 1st, I found that my sugar is very hardened - the canister does not seal properly. I called the 877# on the website and spoke with a girl who told me that she was the owner (and not very professional or courteous). I explained that I received defective merchandise, but had not realized it until just yesterday as I opened the small canister.
The return policy on the website reads that you have 30 days from the time THEY shipped the product (not 30 days from the time that YOU RECEIVED the order) to get it back to them. If it is not back at their location within 30 days from the date they shipped it out of their warehouse, they will refuse it. I asked her about this since at this point I would have to pay for expedited shipping fees to return this defective item in order to ensure that it would be back at their warehouse by April 11th. She said if it's not back by April 11th, I cannot return it. No exceptions. Not even for DEFECTIVE merchandise, which obviously you would not know is defective until after you've used it. How convenient for them.
Yes, if I had known the product was defective when I opened it, I would have returned immediately. I did not know until yesterday that my sugar is hard because the canister doesn't seal properly.
Apparently, she isn't aware, or should I say, DOESN'T CARE that there should be exceptions to every rule, especially when they are ripping off the consumer with their conveniently small window of opportunity to returning items. And if there was a delay with the shipping company, that would be my fault too??? Interesting that they count 30 days from the day they ship the product out rather than 30 days from the time I received the product. Again, interesting and mighty convenient for the rip-off artist.
She responded that the product is food safe, but that it doesn't necessarily mean that it is an "air tight" container. I explained that if I am purchasing kitchen canisters online that read "food safe", I expect that they would also be "air tight" as I've never owned kitchen canisters with a rubber seal that were not "air tight" (why would I?). The owner further retorted, as she was trying to rudely speak over me, that they send 600 of these out every day and that she has a canister set that cost her $600 from Italy and it doesn't keep her sugar either (600 must have been the magical number today). & her sugar doesn't keep either and that's my problem how??? Unbelievable.
I told her I think this is a very poor return policy when it is directly related to DEFECTIVE merchandise. The only response that I got was that it has to be back by April 11th - at MY OWN EXPENSE.
I told her that I would never order from her again. Her response was, "ok".
I would warn anyone and everyone against ordering from this company as they are not even reasonable, they lack professionalism and they could obviously care less about customer satisfaction.
-Disgusted in Wisconsin at Consumer Rip-offs like Accents of Salado!
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